The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1887-06-22

war lnaJ " an army moves upon It's
belly" "Does mama grow upon the
beach and in the pine woods?" asked
one of Sherman's aidesde-camp.
The command of large army tasks
the resources of the greatest mind. 1t
is one of the highest of human achieve
ments, and by common consent the first
rank of fame is accorded to the great
generals. To move an army, and to
feed 1t on the march, requires higher
order of generalship than to fight it.
Thirty hours without supplies would
reduce the best army to helpless mass
of disorganized humanity. Food for
the men, forage for the animals must
not only be provided, but must be at
the precise spot when wanted. Ma
poleon, the great master of the art of
war, had a score of marshals, any one
of whom could fight great battle and
scarce one of whom could lead an army
on the march. An army on the march
resembles nothing so much as an enor-
nous serpent, stretched out mile upon
mile and moving, alert and watchful,
with steady and irresistible force. Let
danger threaten and it hastily coils
itself together and prepares to avert or
overcome the danger. Shrunk to a
fraction of its former dimensions, it
shows its fangs and is ready for attack
or defence. The danger overpast, the
great mass unfolds its coils again and
stretches out its huge proportions in
progressive movement. The brain of
this mighty animal, the supreme mind
that controls its every motion, is the
general-in-chief.
AS he rides out of Atlanta on that
dark November day, the smoke of the
doomed city filling all the heavens like a
pail, we catch glimpse of the general
who has conceived and is about to exc
cute this desperate enterprise. Born in
1920, he graduated at West Point in
| 1910 in the same class with George II.
Thomas and Richard s. Ewell, the
latter holding high command in the
confederate army. Sherman was at
this time in his forty-ffth year. A tall,
slim, iron-built figure, all nerve and
sinew, with not an ounce of flesh to
spare. A large head, long and conical,
with slanting brow, crossed and cut by
burrows; eyes of dark-brown, hair of
the same hue, cropped close; sandy
beard and moustache, a large mouth,
with an expression of countenance
kindly, even humorous, but keen;
anxious, vigilant and suspicious. Such
is the outward and visible aspect of the
cold Man." as the soldiers called him.
He denies himself and his staff every
luxury. He has fewer servants, fewer
horses than the regulations allow, and
his staff is smaller than that of a brig
ade commander. He has reduced
himself and every man under him to
finht;nc xuaioht Tho III
vided for the march into two wings,
General Howard commanding the
right, General Slocum the left, with
General Fitzpatrick in command of the
cavalry.
Milledgeville, the capital of the state,
was the first objective of the march,
distant southeast one hundred miles.
Here the Georgia legislature was in
session, and here the Georgia militia,
under General Howell Cobb, was con-
centrating. Gaily and with free step
the troops, full of the confidence success
inspires, swung forward toward Mill
edgeville. Each wing of the army was
composed of two corps, and the ordinary
order of march, where practicable, was
by four roads, as nearly parallel as pos
sible. Each column marched within
supporting distance of the others. The
general commanding issued his orders,
indicating generally the object to be
accomplished or the line to be followed.
On the subordinate commanders de-
volved the task of carrying the orders
out in detail. In order to subsst sup
plies must be gathered from the country
passed over, and to this end each
brigade had regularly organized for
aging party, whose business it was daily
to gather near the route travelled corn
and forage of any kind, meat, vege-
tables and corn-meal, or whatever was
needed by the command, aiming at all
times to keep in the wagons ten days
provisions for the command and three
days forage. These foraging parties
soon got to be known as Sherman's
bummers," and they achieved for
themselves bad eminence for conduct
that can scarcely be defended even
under the rigorous rules of war The
line between taking for the army and
stealing for ones self ought to have
been better marked than it seems ia
; have been, according to all authentic
accounts.
, One of Sherman's objects in the great
/ march was to destroy all warlike stores
, and means of transport, including rail-
, ways, bridges and canals, and this was
, done with remarkable thOroughness.
Most of the march was made along the
lines of railroad, which were destroyed
! as the troops advanced. The method
!, of destruction was to burn and dig up
, all the bridges and culverts and tear
, up the track and bend the rails. The
ties would be placed in piles, the rails
laid across them and the ties set on fire
The rails becoming red-hot in the mid
die, the soldiers would then twist them
around trees, thus completely prevent.
,, ing their ever being used again. Every
, thing that could serve an army in the
/ field was destroyed, and over breadth
= of fifty miles-the line of march of the
, army-an almost desolate waste was
made. 1t was currently said that a jay
bird would have to carry haversack
in going through that country.-Cnl-
, cinndti Commercial Gazette.